The Knee Draggers raced in for a successful ending to their season at the Pacific Coast Mini Racing Club’s (PCMRC) event at the Greg Moore Raceway in Chilliwack last month.
Three Quesnel locals, Chris Kelly, Mike Beaudoin and Doug Bolton, geared up and took to the road, competing alongside fellow racers from across B.C and even Alberta.
Taking on an unfamiliar track, the trio spent Saturday afternoon racing along Chilliwack’s track, practicing for following day of racing. The track was much longer, with sharper corners Kelly remarked and it would take the team some practice before they took on the competition.
This marked the Knee Draggers second and final event of the season.
It was a rough start for the Quesnel racers with two members crashing in the first race of the day.
With more than 24 riders on the track for the first event, it was tough to keep the fast bikes from colliding.
Beaudoin was the first Knee Dragger to take a hit after the rider in front of him took the track’s 10th corner wide during the third lap of the race. Beaudoin collided with the rider ahead of him unable to stop in time as the rider stood-up on the 11th corner.
This would take Beaudoin out of the remainder of the races, having suffered a burn on his leg from the crash.
Quickly adding to the crash list was Bolton.
Taking the corner too deep Bolton’s accident left him relatively unscathed though his bike would be out of the competition having damaged the front caliper during the unfortunate crash.
“Off the start three people crashed,” Kelly said.
“The race was red flagged after only eight laps.”
Kelly would take eighth place in the first race, the Formula Spec and remained the only Knee Dragger left racing. Kelly also raced his way into ninth place in the Formula Over 21 and eighth place in the Formula Super Sport.
The final event for the Quesnel competitors was the endurance race and despite having crashed earlier in the day, Bolton was up and ready to race again, though because of his injury Beaudoin would sit this event out.
The endurance race used one bike with a team of up to four racers, Kelly and Bolton recruited a Chilliwack and a Surrey rider to assist them in this final event.
The Knee Draggers along with their temporary recruits raced in on Kelly’s bike completing 94 laps in two hours, taking a trophy and a first place victory back to Quesnel.
Next season these Quesnel street bike racers are hoping to host regionals as well as nationals at our local raceway.
“We will be in the endurance race so we will be fighting to keep our title,” Kelly laughed.
Though the season is quickly coming to a close, the Knee Draggers are always on the look out for new recruits, having picked up several new riders throughout the season, with the hopes of eventually starting up a local points for these speed enthusiasts.
“We are trying to promote this to young people,” Kelly said. “We want to teach them how to rider properly, then if they get a street bike of their own they will know how to handle it and what their limits are.”
For information on the Knee Draggers and learn more about the fast paced world of street bike racing visit www.quesnelkneedraggers.com
